Traded In
by TheSecondBestBed
Summary: Charlotte belongs to Russell's party of eight humans. After discovering that Wanda was able to cure hosts, life began to look brighter for her small group, even with the double helping of Seekers on their tracks. What happens though, when Charlotte has to be traded into another group for the sake of the team's well being? Will she be able to forgive and forget, or go down fighting?
1. It Begins

**Traded In**

_**Chapter One: It Begins**_

* * *

It had been four months since we had made contact with the new group of humans.

I could have said that nothing had changed since then, but that would've be an obvious lie, because meeting them had changed everything. I remember the news like it was yesterday. The excitement of the crowd, the pulsing of my veins, the erratic beating inside my ribcage, it was all so fresh in my memory. The moment forever embedded within me, tying down my hopes into reality and making them scar me new visions. All of these emotions were due to this one incredible miracle, which fell from the sky…figuratively and literally.

Her name is Wanda, or so I've heard.

Funny how a soul was the one giving humanity its hope for survival; honestly though, I don't care if it's a human, a soul, a giraffe, or a garden gnome helping us. All that matters anymore is that there _is_ a cure, and slowly but surely we're getting closer to bringing our species together once again. Sure it's dangerous, but we've managed to pull through so far. Everything is going to be okay now.

I hope.

* * *

I can hear Crater shushing me from across the bushes. I hadn't noticed that my feet were crushing a nest of twigs, that is until I also heard the crunching sound that echoed throughout the shrubbery. _'Oh! Sorry'_ I mouth to him silently, and try my best not to make any more noise than I need to as I relocate myself. He rolls his eyes, his mouth a worried line on his nearly perfect face, while he moves the group closer through the low terrain; finally when he believes we've reached a good safe point, he raises his hand and signals us to examine the hot spot. A grocery store.

From afar it looks normal, its neon sign glowing faintly in the sunset painted atmosphere, an empty parking lot, and food filled interior finish the tranquil picture. An average looking man at the cash register takes his time looking through a paper on his desk; he turns them this way and that as if it was just another day's work. All the while we wait, our bodies hunched over, aching in pain. I feel a large bead of sweat slide through the side of my face and plop to the floor. It's barely audible, but Crater shushes me again anyways; I swear the boy could hear a cactus go through photosynthesis if he tried hard enough! Finally what we've been waiting so patiently for happens. The man in the registers exits the store and disappears around the corner to the shed.

"_**Go!"**_ Crater whispers, I and another girl sprint to our feet and make a B-line towards the door; as our feet touch the pavement, our strides become longer and quicker, but also more cautious. The last thing we want is for the clerk to find us mid-raid.

He didn't even bother to lock the entrance, but then again, none of them do. There's no reason for them to suspect one another for stealing. They're supposedly too _good_ for that.

This is the hardest part for me; my fingers are stumbling clumsily through the bag of chips as I shove them into my backpack. I try to get as much as I can without thinking, and with the anxiety that boils inside I start to forget all of the requests the rest of the group gave me before I left. Did so-and-so ask for Doritos or Lays? What's-her-face wanted Milky Way right?

I turn my head to the girl beside me and notice that she's stuffing her bag as mindlessly as I am. Suddenly, I don't feel as guilty as I know I should, and keep shoving what I can until the bag is full and heavy in my arms. Our zippers sound in unison as we close them, and now I can see Crater waving his hand frantically at us, begging us to finish quickly.

"_He doesn't have to tell me twice"_ I mumble and with that we head out into the trees and far from that so called civilization.

"WOOOOOOOOHOOOO ALRIGHT MAMA!" Ash yells at the top of his lungs. He flails the bag of Cheetos over his head as if it were an Olympic gold medal. He forces the bag open, spilling Cheetos all over the car in the process, and starts to fill his mouth with the orange goodness. "Oh thank you God" he achieves to say in between bites. His hand brings up the beaded necklace around his neck to his mouth, and he fills it with cheese as he kisses it. I grin from ear to ear, and from where I'm sitting I can see a smile start to make its way onto Crater's face too.

"`Ey! Watch where you're aiming those stupid Cheetos of yours! You stained my shorts, do you know how long it's going to be before I can go and get another pair? `Eh? Do you?"

Lava's shouts boom through the car equally as loud as Ash's do. Those two were always the first to get loud whenever it was safe to. It seemed as if the quiet was always too much for them, and in many ways I was glad they always broke the ice.

"Whazch du prebblem? We cun jist get Burns to helchs us!"

"You t`ink we can use Burns whenever we want ah? He's busy you know, it's - -aw cover your damn mouth you pig!"

This only made Ash chew more obnoxiously and get closer to Lava's face. In return she started to yell something in Spanish I couldn't understand, until she got sick of him that is, and began to hit him with her sneaker.

"Yeah get him! Get him!" I egged her on.

"I'm driving you morons! You want me to crash?" Carter finally spoke up from the driver's seat, but the grin was still stuck on his face. "That'd be a stupid way to die don't you think? The only humans to die of a car crash in the middle of an alien invasion!"

"Better I say! That way, while I'm dying I'll stick my butt in the air, so it's the first thing the Seekers will see when they come get us!"

Despite ourselves we laughed at his stupid joke, mainly because we knew he would actually do it.

"Ooh yeah!" Lava's face shined almost as if there was a light bulb inside her skull "We should paint 'KISS THIS' on the back of your pants!"

My imagination pictured the look on the Seekers face as they got a look at the gruesome car crash, and then at Ash's posterior shooting up in their direction with those words written on them. The image made me choke on the Snickers I was eating, which only made the group laugh more.

Back at camp though, they didn't find it as hilarious.

"You took a _long_ time" Russell said when we got there.

His usual deep voice went an octave lower, as he crossed his muscular arms in front of his broad chest. His bald head shined brightly, the result of a ray of sunshine shining down from a small crack on the cave roof. From the corner of my eye I can see Ash biting his lower lip with great intensity, a sure sign that he had noticed it too and was keeping himself from bursting out into laughter.

"I know I know" Crater was the first to say, he stepped forward so I wasn't the one getting Russ' glare anymore. I let out a silent sigh of relief.

"It's just that the cashier took a longer time getting out than we had expected. We would've made a faster exit if we could have, you know that."

"I was almost going to send reinforcements to go looking for you."

"What? _Reinforcements?_ What are we fifth graders?" Crater didn't give Russell a chance to reply "Russ you know how I get on raids, you know that you can trust me. I wouldn't put my team in danger."

"Well you can never be too careful nowadays Crater. Remember that the number of Seekers has doubled recently because of - -what's been going on."

I heard Lava shift uncomfortably behind me.

"I know I know" Crater repeated, but his face had twisted into a somber expression now, his dust colored eyes focusing on an invisible spot.

"Heeeeeyyyy no problem. You should have seen Crater out there coach! He was 'Swoosh' and 'Bizaaaooo' 'Cha-ching!'" Ash chipped in.

Russell gave him one of his famous skeptical looks. I let out the last inch of breath I was holding in, because now the situation felt a lot less tense. Everything always eased itself just right here.

"What have I told you about using onomatopoeia as verbs Ash?" Russell's thick eyebrows went up, his gotee moving slightly upward along with them.

"But coach it was awesome! I swear his ears were mad crazy!" Ash's long, black hair swished this way and that as he talked excitedly. I hated the way it fell back into place like silk, without a single bump, or curl. "Oh and I've never seen Charcoal run so fast! You should've seen the way her and Lava got in there and cleaned the top shelves!**"** He faced me now and beamed. "And leaving that note was genius! You sounded just like a soul in the writing; it was a great cover up!"

I tried my best not to blush at his compliment, and instead we bumped fists. I had written several notes before the raid began, I knew things were going to get hectic, and thought it best if we left little letters here, and there if we were to take more supplies than souls usually do. It was a letter of apology of sorts, a soul explaining why they couldn't drop by and say hello, and why they needed to take so many items in such a short amount of time. I also added something about being sorry for making the worker go through the trouble of checking the inventory themselves; since I knew they did item checks instead of trading cash. I would then sign the notes using fake pen names like Smiles Upwards or Swims Gracefully, anything I could think up of really. The souls never appeared to notice the difference.

"Thinking like a human, acting like a soul" Ash grinned.

Lava punched his arm playfully "Ah shuddup"

"Ow! It's true!"

"Alright, that's enough you two" Russell smiled "now go get yourselves inside, and let me close the entrance in peace. The last thing I need is a headache."

We made our way in, shuffling in a single line absent mindedly, even though we knew we didn't need to. Russell looked back at us and caught a glimpse of Ash's pants. They had 'KISS THIS' written in bright red marker on the back of them. "I'm not even going to ask" Russell grumbled under his breath as he began to close the entrance.

He could already feel the headache forming within his temple.

* * *

**A/N: Hello there, I just wanted to add that this is my first fanfic, and I'm very excited about it. I hope that you will like this story as it progresses, and don't feel afraid to review! Tell me what you like, dislike, want me to change, or even if you have a good idea you might want to share. I'll take each of your comments into consideration. ****(Sorry for the many line breakers in this Ch by the way!;; I know they're a tad distracting.)**

**Fair warning though! _This is a Doc x OC fanfic! Enjoy!_**


	2. Russel's Team

_**Traded In**_

**Chapter Two: The Team**

* * *

My name really isn't Charcoal. It's Charlotte Manger, but names have diminished in importance as the years pass.

Russell was the one who had given me the nickname when I first arrived to this camp, and in all actuality he was like a second father to me. Well, to _all_ of us really. I glanced back at him as we headed into the dark tunnel; there was a certain comfort in seeing him push the oversized boulder into place. For now it was the only obstacle standing in between us, and the outside world. Some saw it as a hindrance, a way to keep us trapped inside with nothing better to do than work; the majority of us, however, knew that it was for our protection. It didn't keep us in, but kept _them_ out.

Russell didn't care to listen to any of our whining. Even if all of us were against the idea, he wouldn't have moved the boulder a single inch from its place. _"If you got a problem, suck it up and take a lap."_

That was his response to all of our complaints, and from it you could obviously tell that he had been a coach at one point. We were his children, but also his players, and to Russ that meant working together for the good of the team, because as we all knew there was no "I" in the word. How could we forget when he forced us to remember it all the time?

Ash took advantage of the darkness to pull one of his tricks; I'm not quite sure what it was, but it was enough to make Lava squeak a high C. I try to duck the fists I couldn't see, as I hear them battle it out in the blackness. Lava yells Ash's name in annoyance, but he escapes her grasp just in time to run into the dim light at the end of the tunnel.

His name is actually Ashton, but like everyone else in this cave he's been given a nickname by Russell that sticks like glue onto his identity. The Hispanic female beside me follows him in long strides, her breathing even, but also rough and loud.

"I don't know if those two will ever get along" Crater decides to say after a moment of silence. I smile, but he can't see it.

"We both know they just pretend. They've got the hots for each other, that much is obvious."

His laugh echoes through the walls, it's lighthearted and completely unsuited for his serious looks.

"Yeah I guess you're right."

Another awkward silence.

"Uhm- -I'm sorry by the way…"

Our figures start to appear before my eyes as we come closer to the light, and from here I notice that his face is avoiding mine as he makes this strange apology.

"What're you talking about?" I asked, because I really had no clue where he was getting this from.

"Y`know" he took a second to kick a small pebble out of his way "for being such a stiff on the raid. I just get nervous, and do some things that might come off as rude. I had no right to shush you." Finally his face turns to observe me, and his lips turn lopsided the way they always do when he's slightly embarrassed.

"Oh! I didn't even notice!" My voice is louder than what I mean it to be "Ah, don't worry about it; I don't get easily fused. Plus, I know just how intense things can get out there in the open. The safer the better, so don't sweat it."

I'm the one who isn't looking now, my eyes are staring intently at the rough floor, yet, I can feel his eyes burning into the side of my head. "If you say so." He isn't satisfied with my answer, but that was also just his way of being; Crater (whose real name is Carter), is the type of person who never feels he does enough. He takes on almost every responsibility around the caves: cooking, cleaning, tending to the food, and hard labor. The only reason he doesn't do _everything_ is because Russell forces him to take a break from some chores; he's afraid Crater will get sick or go insane, whichever comes first. In a way I wish I could be more productive like that, but just the thought of washing the dishes makes me feel fatigued mentally, physically, and emotionally. Cleaning is not _my_ forte, but Crater took it on like a pro.

You could say that he was like an assistant coach in our strange little family of wannabe athletes; whenever Russell wasn't around (which was almost never), Crater was in charge, no questions asked. You didn't hear us complaining about it either. He was very hard not to like, but at the same time very aloof and difficult to read.

"I'm going to throw our supplies into the stock. I guess I'll be seeing you then." I hadn't noticed that we reached the end of the tunnel, and stood there stupefied before I could give a sloppy wave goodbye; a gesture that was useless seeing as there were only eight people, and we would obviously meet up soon. As quickly as he was a good distance away I gave myself a face palm, a punishment for being so damn stupid.

"`Bout time you got here"

I felt a wave of dread go through my palm and down to my toes; I knew that voice all too well, and I suspected it would not be accompanied by a happy expression as I turned around to meet it. I was right. The slim figure that looked down at me was not at all pleased; her face alone was scrunched into a hexed look that made me feel heated and instantly defensive.

"Magma, as lovely as always I see, I just knew you'd be thrilled to know we're back safe and sound" my voice was thick with sarcasm, my equally fake smile twisting upwards to let my strained speech out.

"Don't play cute. You know you guys should've had your butts busted for being late. But not even a punishment. Then again, Russell babies the lot of you since you're his favorite." I wanted to slap that tiny smirk off of her mouth, but since I had gotten in trouble for it before _being the lady that I am_ I held my composure.

"Will you cut that off? We're too old for this bickering."

Just as Magma opened her mouth again, a figure beside her jumped in the conversation to save her from saying anything else completely idiotic.

"Oh don't mind her" it was Smoke, who had once again appeared out of thin air to resolve a dispute. She was the peacemaker of the group, always trying to emotionally fix what she could. My jaw muscles relaxed just watching her, for some odd reason she emitted this strangely calming aura that made you want to shut up and hold hands. She was a unique looking creature, tall and very thin with a mass of hair ambushing her tiny little face. Every feature on her appearance was extremely petite, you would have thought that she was a mannequin if it wasn't for the fact that she moved and talked.

"Now then" she started up again, raising her tiny fingers to remove a curl of her wild hair from her eyes "we're all very happy to see that you've come back safely. We were keeping the fort up and running, just waiting for your arrival. We'll make a special meal with the supplies you've brought; I think I'll make my famous vegetarian gumbo."

"That's great!" my stomach gurgles loudly in agreement, and I can see a snarl of disgust form on Magma's face. Sometimes it seemed completely insane that these two beings were twins, or well, triplets. Their youngest sister was caught by the Seekers as they were trying to escape; the two haven't heard from her yet. I felt a great amount of sympathy for Smoke; I could tell the absence of her sister affected her deeply. Magma on the other hand, dealt with her pain in other forms, but even still I had a difficult time feeling anything but apathy towards her. She may look like Smoke, but her attitude made every feature that her sister had look ugly on her.

'_What is that like?'_ I had wondered. To lose someone that shared the same womb with you? Someone that you were forever bound to by a stronger force than you could explain. I mean, we were all orphans in a sense, each of us had lost our parents to the invasion, but none of us were a set of twins. Erm - -triplets.

Speaking of "orphans"….

"Where's Cinder?" my stomach had eased by now, and I decided to take the opportunity to change the subject. The more I thought about food, the more I felt compelled to shove some in my mouth.

"She's with Carlos; I believe they're in tending to the lettuce"

"Psh. Who else would she be with? She hasn't left the guy's side since he got here."

Smoke elbowed Magma in her ribcage, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I knew I could. Mainly for one big reason: she was right.

* * *

I took my time getting to the lettuce patch. It's all we grew anymore now that the days had gotten inexplicably hotter and began to kill our crops. My footsteps were soft and hesitant. Did I really want to go through this again? I thought about turning back and forgetting the whole thing, in the end it had been a blistering morning and afternoon. An evening off sounded like a good idea, and I was sure that Cinder wouldn't mind breaking the tradition at least once. She had broken it a couple of times herself. The thoughts bubbled pleasantly in mind; I could already see myself lying on my mattress with the evening breeze making its way through my hair, but just as soon as I was about to turn I heard my name called out.

"Charlotte? Is that you?"

Drat.


	3. Dancing Cats

_**Traded In**_

**Chapter Three: Cats & Dancing**

* * *

I felt like making a U-turn and running away even if it was too late to do so, but something kept me rooted to the floor.

I sucked in my nervous agitation and prepared myself for the coming conversation, one which I knew was going to end badly. They always did. Still, my heels turned, painting circles on the hard sand and I walked toward the voice which had called me.

"Hey Cinder" I greeted as I poked my head through the side of a cave support, my fingers clenched onto it like life support.

All of our fields were encircled by rock formations that came from the roof and touched the ground. Russell and a few of the early campers had helped to sand them down to appropriate sizes, so that most of us could fit through them and do our work without feeling claustrophobic; he even gave them a nice arch at the top just for show. They always reminded me of those pillars you see in the old European movies, except for the fact that they were covered in our crappy chalk art and hand writing.

"You're back!" she took a moment to wipe the beads of sweat from her forehead, now smudging it with topaz-purple colored sand "Well don't just stand there, get over here!"

I was reluctant to take a step forward, but her welcoming smile pulled my feet obediently towards her. I hated the way she had the power to do that! I was going to need to have a serious talk with my feet later for disobeying my brain. She wiped her dirty hands on her apron and stood up to meet me face to face; her eyes glanced at me as if she were looking at me for the very first time, and finally after some time passed she gave me her signature bear hug. "Dad was starting to get worried. We thought that you guys - -"

"Yeah I know" I didn't want her to finish the sentence "but it was really nothing. We were only delayed a couple of days, and well a few more annoying hours due to some store clerk." I was beginning to feel my ribcage protest, but Cinder didn't seem to hear them. "Girl don't you ever scare me like that! You know I would've gone on a Seeker killing spree if I found out you went missing!"

I grinned goofily, because when she wanted to, Cinder could be as cracked as Ash, and my imagination played out a new scene, which made me laugh. **"**Yeah yeah**"** I was able to pry her off, an achievement my lungs thanked me for. "You know very well that I'd never let those parasites get me. I'd die first before I'd ever let one of them get to my CD collection."

"You mean that one Michael Bublé disc you have inside that old mp3 player?"

"That's the one."

She let out a loud laugh at my pathetic excuse for a CD "collection", but I didn't get upset because I knew she listened to it when I was away. Music was a luxury we had nowadays in the caves. It wasn't necessarily something at the top of our survival list, and we sure as hell weren't going to risk our lives any time soon for it. Although, sometimes that's what we felt like doing when we got the desperate urge that came with this everlasting silence. I was beginning to have so much fun that I almost didn't see the figure that crept over us while we talked. It wasn't must of a figure really, the stature it held was shorter than I, and did very little looming. Nevertheless, its presence was like a tiny needle at the bottom of your foot, one that you couldn't find and pluck out, but still hurt when you pressed down onto it.

"Parasite is an offensive word Charlotte; you know better than that."

"Huh?" My face turns to face Carlos, who's looking at me as if I just stepped on some of his territory. For a split second I check my feet for any signs of pee surrounding me.

"What're you talking about?" I don't know why I bothered asking, things would've been much better if I had ignored him and went on with my conversation. That way I would have saved myself a migraine

"You said, and I quote: 'you know very well that I'd never let those parasites get me.'" I rolled my eyes the way he stated that in a very matter-of-fact kind of way. "May I remind you that we don't use that type of language anymore? How would Burns feel if he was here and he heard you saying such a thing?"

"You know what I meant by parasites Carlos." I tried my very to keep my voice calm "I wasn't at all referring to Burns or any of the other souls, just the Seekers is all."

"Seekers are souls too."

Okay, so maybe I had lied before - -alright I _had _lied to Crater. A big lie. If there was one thing I did have, it was a short temper. Any little thing could set my off, and any big thing was just setting room for an explosion. Don't blame me though, blame my equally short height; there was much less room for my temperament to reach its limit. Or at least that's what my grandfather told me to say when I was younger, even today I find it to be a decent enough excuse.

Through some sort of phenomenon I managed to bite my tongue. If there was one thing I hated (among the many things I hated) it was when a smart alack like Carlos corrected my every single sentence. This was especially true when I had nothing to say in rebuttal, since he was, of course, right.

"Very well Carlos. I'm sorry, I promise I won't ever say it again" I knew it was a promise I couldn't hold up to, but if that was going to shut him up, then I would say it. He smiled from ear to ear, beaming as if he had just done the world some greater good by amending me. I would rather be chased by a heard of Seekers, than see him smile like that again.

"Oh and please don't forget to address Cindy by her proper name. You know how tedious it could be to remember all of those nicknames you guys came up with."

Did I say I herd of Seekers? I meant an avalanche of Seekers, being led by a dozen Magma clones. At least I could somewhat put up with them. I again swallowed my tongue, this time trying the best I could to not look agitated.

The arm he wrapped around Cinder looked as ridiculous as a monkey wearing a banana for a hat, and much less amusing. His head barely reached her shoulders, and he practically had to stand on tip toes to reach my nose as he looked at me. I didn't know what she saw, but Cinder turned to him and stared down with such a tenderness that I could do nothing more than marvel at it. Such a strange affection this was. Maybe it was just one of those marvels I would never grow to understand.

Before I gave him another opportunity to show me how insignificant I was, I began to say my 'farewells' and 'see yeah laters'.

Cinder didn't seem to mind; in fact she wasn't even looking at me by this point. When she had laid eyes on Carlos, it was as if the rest of the world was invisible to her, and my goodbye stood unnoticed along with a few other gestures of disappointment. I knew that I shouldn't have been upset by that, in the end this had happened about a dozen times since he moved into this camp.

Cindy is Russell's only daughter, and one of the most down-to-Earth people you could ever meet. We instantly clicked when I was brought into this safe house, and the two of us had become best friends ever since; we were inseparable and constantly stirring up mischief wherever we went.

'_Were' _being the key word here.

* * *

The dough in my hands twisted elegantly, spinning into a threaded knot that reminded me of a smooth braid. My fingers pinched the corners where they met, until finally they were joined as one to become a soft star formation. I glanced down at it the way a mother stares at her child. Don't ask me why, but I found shaped dough to be extremely adorable. It was one of my weird likes.

"Ahh that looks cute mi`ja!" Lava gasped as she looked down at my creations with her brown eyes. "I like that one the most**"** she pointed to the white dough in the shape of a cat.

"Oh yeah? I think it's one of my best ones yet."

"How you do that anyways?" the white mush in her hand had no shape, and sat in her hands as hard as a rock. "You do a little of this I bet" she dropped her rock, and took my cat from where it was laying. She swung it from side to side in this funny dance. "Maybe some cha-cha-cha too?"

I was grinning by now and blushing too, because I knew that even though she was purposefully giving an awkward motion, she still danced better than I did.

"Wouldn't it be nice to have a dance again?"

The comment takes me by surprise a little. I wasn't quite sure where she was going with this, the more I pondered over the possibility, but the more I was beginning to understand. Dancing was another luxury that humans had to refrain from doing often. It wasn't that the action itself caused a lot of noise, but it was very distracting to our daily lives. It made us relax a little too much and Russell knew that sooner or later we would drop our guard, and that was not an option. I tried to imagine dancing here. Sure, I knew I sucked at it, but just giving it a try sounded like a good enough idea; at that moment I knew my shyness wouldn't take the best of me, and I would be able to let go and fully enjoy the music with my friends. That is, if we had any music besides my Bublé CD.

Lava began speaking again when she noticed I had come out of my thoughts. I didn't think she was actually going to catch me spacing off. How humiliating. Still, her face was just as dazed, and she didn't seem to mind that I hadn't answered her question. "I remember when I lived back in Mexico. We had this huge party for my cousin's graduation; she was the first from our family to graduate from college at the time, and my parents were so happy. We danced and partied until it was t`ree o`clock in the morning.**" **She was swaying with the cat by now, her eyes somewhere far away from here. "I had met this guy there, and I was still such a _pequeñita_, but I felt that there was chemistry between us. He had the most beautiful brown eyes, and his smile was so genuine that I was ecstatic when he asked me to dance." For a split second I forget that she's speaking about herself, and start to believe that she was telling a story about me.

I know it sounds strange, and not to mention narcissistic, but my mind just does that sometimes. I don't mean to twist the story around; however, my imaginings go wild and puts me in her place without me being completely conscious of it. It makes the scene look so much more real, almost if I _had_ been there enjoying that moment too. She doesn't have to explain the place for me to know what it looks like, or at least what I think it looks like. Every small plate, light, talk, music, and face is already created within my brain. I see the boy and his smile, and it makes me smile too. "You know" she begins once again, but this time she's still too concentrated that she didn't notice me not paying attention "by the end of the night, I realized I didn't even know his name. He left without telling me." She frowns at this, and gives the cat dough a look that is defensive and yet exposes her hurt. "I wonder why he never told me?" before I can console her she answers her own question "I bet it's because he didn't like me all that much. Not as much as I thought I liked him anyways, but then again, I was still so young. What did I know about love?" Unexpectedly she smiles at the animal in her hands, as if it's told her a very funny joke, and then she kisses it. It was a simple peck, but it makes me feel as if I were watching her kiss the boy she's mentioning, which only makes me turn pink.

Out from across the other side of the dining area, Ash strolls by and observes us. Of course, he stops dead in his track, and already I feel like I know what he's going to say. "Awww baby, don't worry. I know I've been gone long, but you don't have to practice with that anymore! Papa's coming!"

Yeah, I was pretty close.

"OOH!" Ash must've really surprised her, because Lava's steaming red and her eyes look as if they're ready to pop out of her face. She grips the cat in her hand, squishing the poor thing out of shape, and tosses it as hard as she can in Ash's direction. He easily dodges it and the dough skids through the sand. "I wouldn't kiss you if you were the last man on Earth _Ashton Fabbiano_!" I consider the irony of this insult. Ash just smiles and raises one eyebrow, the way he does when he's about to make a snappy comeback, or when he's trying to act cool, which is about half of the time. "Oh please _Laviana Garcia_, you wish you could get your hands on some of this Italian pastry. Last man on Earth or not."

Lava raises both of her eyebrows and puffs her lips out, finishing off the look by crossing her arms over her chest. I begin to fear for the rest of my dough babies and silently make my way towards them, grabbing them with ease and placing them over the fire. It was a good move too, because just as Ash starts to mimic Lava's dance and blow kisses, she goes and reaches for another one, only to notice that there isn't any. The chase starts once again, and before I know it the two disappear out of my sights. I hear Russell yelling from a distance and try my best to look occupied, just in case he thinks I had anything to do with it.


	4. The Look

_**Traded In**_

**Chapter Four: The Look **

* * *

Weeks had passed on as they normally do around here, and with each passing hour we began to fall back into schedule. The excitement of the raid had died down, the crops had regrown, and the supplies we had brought back were nowhere near vanishing.

"Look it's not as if I'm saying that we _need_ more space, but it would be more comfortable around here."

I tried with little avail, to ignore the voice that was blabbering on at the makeshift breakfast table. I sighed into my cup of water, and slid a glance over at the people around me. Carlos was still chattering on and on about how we needed – no – _deserved _more rooms just in case we get any new arrivals, but we all knew that was highly unlikely. Every time a human or dormant soul was kept, they were usually brought over to another team. So why even think about it? It wasn't that the other groups disliked us; it was just that it was far more convenient for everyone this way, because we were the farthest site from the soul civilization. Actually, we were just far in general! It took miles upon miles for us to even reach another group of humans, and although it sounds tedious it's actually quite nice. We have a lot of privacy and audio level privileges that the others don't have.

I've never been inside of another camp before, but Ash once told me that his head was about to blow right off when he entered Gail's squad, since they had to mumble all of the time. Knowing him, I suspected that the quiet would get to him first before the Seekers ever would.

My vision turned towards the triplet/twins, who were dealing with Carlo's rambling in their own separate ways. Magma had her hands dug into her face so hard that it looked as if she was about to reach the back side of her head, while Smoke tried to look attentive by nodding her head occasionally, but I could tell she was busying herself with her food. Cindy was the only one actually paying attention to him. Ash was simply trying to balance a spoon on his nose, only to fail time after time with a clank on the table. Lava appeared to be the most uncomfortable of all though. She always seemed to tense up when the subject of humans and souls were brought up; this was mainly because she herself was once an overtaken being.

Our cluster used to consist of only seven for an extensive time, and so when we had heard news of Wandas abilities, we were slightly skeptical. Our solitary had kept us close to one another, but distant from everyone else, and we had begun to doubt if they were trustworthy or not. After all, finding the cure that made both souls and humans happy? It sounded too good to be true. That's why Crater was sent over to look at the process himself, and send us back the "evidence" that it wasn't a complete lie. I'll never forget the looks on our faces when he had brought a confused and amnesiac Hispanic female. Soon she began to fit right into our family. We couldn't believe our eyes at first, but we definitely trusted Crater, and that's all we needed. Trust.

I tried to give her a guise of comfort, but she didn't even give me a first glance; I felt bad for her either way.

Thinking of Crater, where was that guy anyways? I thought he might have overslept, but now I was beginning to realize that neither he nor Russell was in the room. '_That's strange, Russell never misses breakfast.' _A thought that was all too true. After minutes of sitting idly and trying to be a good girl, the curious side of me finally over powered my body. I would rather snoop and risk getting caught, than have to stay here for one more second. I lifted myself out of my seat, picked up my tray of food, and scuttled past everyone. No one bothered to look, but then again why would they? They didn't know what I was up to when I cleaned my dish and cup, and went about my way causally.

One of the aspects that I loved and hated about this cave was that it was small in some places and ample in all the wrong ones. For example, the gardening fields were massive, which meant more seeds to plant and more toil to be done. Our rooms on the other hand were made to fit at least one person, and two if you like crowded spaces. It was the real reason Carlos was arguing to begin with, because he didn't have enough room to "cuddle" it up with my best friend. The image alone made me cringe in disgust. _Yuck._

The point, nevertheless, is that if Crater and Russell were discussing something in private, which they usually did, then I would unquestionably be able to hear in on it. I know that may sound wrong and all, but so what? It wasn't as if lives depended on it.

* * *

After I spent minutes tippy-toeing about, I was able to finally able to hear murmuring echoing through the walls. "Jackpot" I whispered to myself as I cautiously tried to follow the sound of the voices. They were distant and very faint, so it was nearly impossible to know which ones were real and which ones were the parodists of space. I held my breath, and suddenly it was completely silent. No whispers. I stopped. No sound, except the thumping of my heartbeat inside of my ears. I felt a bead of sweat roll down my back in the prickliest way. Why was it so darn - -

"Hiya."

"_Nmmmmeeeeee!"_

That was the sound my throat made when I liberated the panic that nearly struck me dead; I managed to not scream aloud, but I was brash enough to make the figure behind me jump as well.

"Whoa, are you okay? Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"Ohhhhh." That was about the lamest reply I could muster as I turned to face Crater, who eyed me kindly, but with a hint of suspicion.

"I – mean oh don't worry" I corrected myself, trying to not look completely insane in that instance.

"What're you doing here?"

He was as direct as always, which made it completely impossible to avoid any type of subject. I grimaced inside, but smiled outwardly. "I heard some voices" I tried to sound as meek as possible "I got creeped out and decided to check out what it was, you know how disturbing these caves can be when it's quiet. You start hearing things that aren't there." Now that I had calmed myself, I noticed that the whispers had resumed. I shivered, because I noticed that Russell wasn't speaking with Crater, but he was speaking with someone. A stranger. The male in front of me furrowed his eyebrows, his face a doubtful expression as he tried to see if I was lying or not. I slightly flinched, but he didn't seem to notice, for he smiled as if I had passed his test. Thank goodness I was an expert at lying.

"So" I balanced on my heels, trying to still sound casual "who's Russell talking to in there? That's Russ' voice right?"

"Oh, that's just someone from another camp."

"Someone that you know?"

"No actually, they're a million miles away from us, so I never had the privilege." He tried to copy my natural tone, but I could see the lines in his face begin to deepen with minor anxiousness. I could tell he was lying, because when Crater lied there always appeared this flush to his cheeks that he couldn't seem to control. I acted as if I hadn't noticed.

"Well that's new. We usually never get visitors" I half laughed as if that was some kind of joke "Do you know what he's here for then? It can't be our secret treasure could it?"

He didn't even crack a smile at my joke, which I knew was bad, but sheesh could it have been that terrible? Ash has told worse in the past.

"Hey Charlotte…" his voice was as soft as I had ever heard it, and I realized that his nonchalant expression was completely wiped off by now, and replaced with a strangely stern one. I felt my smile fading too. Why had the mood changed so drastically? I peered into his eyes, and I mean really stared into them, like I had never done before. They were piercing those eyes. I could never actually tell what color they were, because they seemed to soak up ever hue that surrounded them. In them were splashes of yellows, greens, and browns; I saw colors I didn't even know existed within eyes, like orange and maroon; I now realized that they were also sucked in from the sand below. Yet, even with all of this beauty they were like a landscape with no skies; a horizon without a sunset; a voice without laughter. Meaningless and out of place.

I mustered up enough strength to look away from those sad eyes. Why did I suddenly feel so vulnerable next to him? My feelings are thrown off track completely by what he says next.

"…no matter what happens, know that you're wanted okay?"

I still didn't look up, but I can feel my face meandering into a puzzled visage.

"What?"

"I just wanted you to know that you've done a great job."

He says it as if I'm supposed to understand, but I'm still confused; my brain tries to arrange his words into something logical. Finally I decide to look back up at him. I don't get lost in his eyes like I did a second ago, but now I contemplate him as a whole. The way his face had been observing me hasn't changed, but now it suddenly seems so different, because now I _see_ it.

I realize that he isn't looking at me harshly; he's looking at me with pity.


	5. Morning Consensus

_**Traded In**_

**Chapter Five: Morning Consensus**

* * *

I knew then and there that everything would change; I just didn't want to accept it.

The look Crater had given me kept me up all night, and as I tossed in my mattress his words had stewed in my mind. Every letter that had come through his lips had encircled my brain, and chewed at it, like a swarm of bats on a field mouse. _'I just wanted you to know that you've done a great job.' _I thought of that look, which was filled with sympathy and worry; the tone seemed to match it exactly. It was one of the most dreadful moments I had to face up to, but I didn't quite know why. All I knew was that in the pit of my stomach lay a rock that wouldn't let me breathe comfortably. Throughout the night I felt cold and covered myself up to the brim of my head, but it only made me suffocate and take off the covers. That is, until I felt frozen again. I continued this process until I lost the will to stay up, and without really knowing how or when, I fell asleep.

It'd be nice to say that the sun woke me up as it shined through the cave and into my eyes, but that wasn't the case at all. My room isn't capable of such a sweet, movie-like awakening, because there are no holes that let the sun pass through. Instead, an incredible heat had made my body so uncomfortable that it had no choice, but to wake up before it burned to death. I opened my eyes groggily and realized that the covers were over my head again. _Ugh _was all I was able to manage mentally as I nearly ripped them off and buried my head in my pillow. I stayed there a couple of minutes, before finally deciding to take a step out of the cushion and onto the floor. The sand felt warm on the soles of my feet despite the lack of light, and I let them swirl around a little until they got used to it. It was safe to say that my room was a complete mess; the only source of sleeping lay on the floor, stained with purple and orange from the ground. There was a corner where my clothes piled shoddily atop each other, probably fighting for the position of 'Top Clothing Item' aka 'Next to be Worn by Charlotte'. As if that was something to fight for.

I splashed the water that was inside of my bucket into my face, and brushed my mouth slowly and without much care for it. As I took a spit inside a cup, I was able to glance at my reflection in the still water of the container. Two large, dark bags hung from eyes, my hair was tossed in every direction, and most front parts stuck to my sweaty skin. To put it simply: I looked terrible. My fingers reached into the water, rippling the disturbing view of myself before I got dressed and headed out of my room. Some things were best left un-attended to.

When I had reached the main hall it was completely empty, and not only that but it was dead silent. On a normal, early day there would be a lot of bustling going on; you would usually see Crater running to and from a million places, while the rest of the group tried to busy themselves, or at least look like they were doing something. Russell would have been the only still one, sitting in his favorite spot with a mug of his stashed coffee in his hands. Now his spot sat there alone, and the only sound of shuffling was the one that came from my feet. I tried to stay absolutely calm, but failed at it completely. There were so many things that an empty cave could mean, and usually none of them were good.

'_Alright Charcoal, stay calm. This could be a complete misunderstanding'_ I tried my very best to coo myself into relaxing, but my hands shook so fiercely I believed they were going to snap right off. Pictures of Seekers zipped past my mind, and even though I tried to block them out they only kept coming stronger. I could already see my friends running for their lives, screams I couldn't hear pitching through the ceilings, punches being thrown in the air, weapons far too complex for them being pointed their way. Complete surrender - -no my team wouldn't go down in such a way. There was only one path for us to take when we were trapped, and it was one that made souls cringe just thinking about it. Ah, but what they saw as 'wasteful' was pride in our eyes; complete and total regain of dignity. I knew that I had come close to choosing that path many times before, when the moments had gotten too close for comfort.

I felt salt water brim in my eyes, and I quickly sucked them in from shame. My wild imagination was also my greatest defect, but I would be damned if I stood there crying over a hypothetical situation. "Just to be on the safe side…" I quietly opened the nearest drawer and pulled out a kitchen knife; as it glistened in the light goose-bumps threaded onto my skin from apprehension. If I was going down, I wouldn't make it easy for them. I didn't bother to finish the sentence I had articulated; the last thing I wanted was to give away my position, because of my big mouth. At least they couldn't hear my heart beat, or so I hoped.

My knuckles had turned white from grabbing the knife handle so strongly, still it was the only thing keeping them from shaking. My first move was to go into the rooms and check for any sign of struggle, but to my surprise every room was neatly put together. Except for Ash's that is, which looked as if a hurricane had passed through it, but then again it always looked like that so I checked it off as normal. The more I crept along, the less of a grip I began to have on my weapon. Everything looked absolutely…the same. Not one stone had moved out of position since I had gone to sleep. "What the bloody hell?" My temper was beginning to get the best of me, because I liked to joke around, but this was getting out right ridiculous. Whatever they were pulling, they had better cut it off _now_. My search grew much quicker and heated; I tossed whatever was in my way without caring how much noise I made. They weren't in the fields, the mess hall, the main hall, the rooms; they completely disappeared! Finally couldn't take it anymore and took my group for abducted. The Seekers had swooped them away from right under my nose, and they were left with no struggle and no honor.

Before I could sink to my knees, the answer had come to me abruptly. It wasn't what I was expecting at all, but I was over joyed when I saw the giant boulder in the entrance slowly move aside and Russell's head peek in.

"Russell! Oh I thought you guys had disappeared off the face of the Earth." My heart skipped a beat when I saw him step into the room. However, he didn't seem very happy to see me; instead of returning my beam he sighed loudly and stood there stiff. My smile dropped from my face.

"Charlotte, we need to see you outside. Now."

* * *

Despite what I had believed, it wasn't even close to being midday. The sun was just starting to peak over the clouds, dominating the night's dark colors with magenta and bright orange. I shivered regardless of the mild temperature; Russell hadn't said a word since we left the cave a good five minutes ago, so the both of us just walked in silence.

"What are we doing out here?" my voice came out as a whisper, even though I knew it was just us two. Russ' face was rigid, and his muscles appeared to tense under his dark skin. He didn't answer my question for a long while, but something inside of him seemed to tell him otherwise.

"We're having a meeting. I called the group a while ago to discuss something very important."

My face flushed slightly because I had probably overslept the call out, and now Russ had to run back to get me. "What are we talking about? Do we have to make a team decision or something?" My feet struggled to keep up with his pace. If it was as important as he said, then there would without a doubt be a team discussion. It was somewhat of a tradition to talk things over as a family.

"We already did."

"Oh."

I felt my face grow three shades darker, and the embarrassment I had felt before now turned into slight hurt and pure humiliation. Well, I had no one to blame but myself.

Up ahead I detected a dark cluster of figures standing idle around; if it weren't for the faint light that was beginning to show, I wouldn't have even seen them. Coming closer in I could now distinguish each of their faces, and to my surprise they all looked worse than I did. Smoke and Magma's normally pale faces paled in comparison to their near white complexion, and their weary eyes made me realize that they hadn't been here for just a little while. The whispered chatter that was passing amongst them had completely stopped when they caught sight of me. Instantly I was uncomfortable; it was like starting middle school all over again.

To my relief, Russell cleared his throat and began to speak up before the silence took a heavy toll on me.

"Charlotte" I cringed at the way he said my name, because he never really called us by any of our birth names. He paused before continuing "we've been talking about this, and we've come to a consensus." His stare was directed to the group, who in return was staring back at me. I shivered again. Man it was cold outside. "This group needs more people, and although we've tried to ignore this situation for a long time it cannot be overlooked anymore. The Seekers are becoming ruthless, and our jobs are becoming harder. We don't just need a couple of hands around the cave anymore; we need much more than that. I know it's going to be more uncomfortable around here with strangers living with us, but we'll grow to adapt. We can't be picky after all, we're in the midst of a war and humans have to stick together." I started to nod along, after all what he said made a lot of sense, but the group didn't even react.

"An offer has been made to us by another group, they're very far away, but they appear trust worthy enough." I nodded along. "They have a Docile Soul they're willing to give us; now this Soul isn't just any normal one, it's- - she's capable of transferring other souls out of human bodies, actually she was trained by Wanda herself and is more than willing to help us." A small gasp escaped my mouth, as cliché as that sounds, but I astonished. "You mean that we're going to be producing humans here?" 'Producing humans' was an awkward term to use, but it was the best I could come up with at the time.

"Yes, something like that."

"But what about the space? We barely have enough room to fit us in there, let alone a couple of more human bodies."

"For the meantime, any humans that are brought back functioning will have to stay in the two halls. Meanwhile, Ash and I will work on the excavating of the cave, within due time we should be able to make enough space for everyone to stay in."

By then I was completely amazed; sure the idea of others coming in made us uneasy, but this would be a big step for human kind, and it wasn't as if we were going to let our anti-social problems get in the way of expanding what could be the biggest development for this camp. Not only were we going to have more people, but our living space would triple. This was overwhelming, and as I looked over to my team to see their surprised faces I just ended up seeing nothing but emotionless expressions. It was obvious that Russell had told them this already. Knowing that didn't make me feel more at ease though.

"That's great!" I chirped when no one else had spoken "I think you guys made the right decision by letting in this new change, it's only go—"

"That's not what we decided upon" Russ interrupted, and for once he looked at me. He gave me _the look_, the same one that Crater had given me yesterday. I felt a knot lump in my throat.

"Then…" I saw now that everyone was staring at me again "...what is it? Is something wrong?"

"Charlotte, the Soul that's been given to us isn't for free. We had to negotiate her services for the benefit of our group, because she could have been easily given to someone else. We…had to pay a price."

I didn't reply.

"The humans had trouble…trusting us all the way. They were afraid that we would kill the Soul once she got here; I mean it's not as if it hasn't happened in the past with other groups. The Souls were right to say we were a violent people. So to make them understand that we were on their side, we decided to make a trade."

I still didn't reply, because I didn't see where he was going with this. Something inside of my mind just wouldn't let me come to the obvious epiphany that was in front of me.

Russell went on; I could tell his face was trying to hold in a sigh or something similar because he could see that I wasn't getting it.

"Charlotte, we had to trade one of our humans for the Soul." My eyes opened in horror, but before I could say anything against it he went on. "We all decided to trade you in."

* * *

_**A/N : Hey you guys, this is kind of where things start to pick up. Sorry if it's been boring for you to read so far, but it's finally gotten to one of the main points. And for those wondering when the romance will come in, don't worry it'll be here soon! I had initially split this into two parts, Chapter Five and going into Chapter Six, but because I'm an idiot I accidentally erased Chapter 6 sooooo I'm going to have to redo it (e, u ,e). It's okay I'll try to have it done ASAP. Oh and don't forget to review! It's kind of hard to know how you guys feel about this story if you don't say much about it ;; Maybe if you just want to put up how you'd feel if you were in Charlotte's position, that's fine too. It's be interesting to see that. So whether you like it, or don't, just say what you feel. C8 **_


	6. Turning Point

_**Traded In **_

**Chapter Six: Turning Point**

* * *

They gave me an hour to say my farewells, but I didn't even bother.

It was clear now that everything I had thought about before was a lie. This wasn't the family I had pictured in my mind, the same family that would die rather than give up one of their own. I know I certainly would have been against the plan if I knew it involved losing one of these people (yes even Magma) that I cared so much for, but then again I guess we were never on the same page. The consensus was made, and from the looks of it had been a pretty simple choice. I'm not saying that they were willing to give me away without a pinch of sympathy, but regret was certainly not on their plate. I took a couple of minutes to stew it over, to think of why they had chosen me instead of anyone else. It couldn't be that I was the newest person in the group; oh no in fact I was one of the first to occupy this base; no their decision was based on something much more obvious. I was the useless one.

Every one of my teammates was capable of doing something that helped the growth of the upcoming changes, well except for Carlos but he was the boyfriend of the leader's daughter so he was out of the question. Looking at myself now, I knew that I was somewhere in between mediocre and inadequate at best. I had no special skill that set me apart, plain Jane was practically my middle name. I mean, what could I possibly say that I most contributed to? Acting like a Soul as Ash had put it? They didn't need a human that acted like a Soul now that they were going to get a real one. Still, was that a good enough excuse to vote me off? Did my lack of excellence give them the right to make a decision that would change my life without consulting me first? I suppose so. At least that's the way it looked from here.

I didn't do much when I was told of my fate, of my _punishment_. The group tried to avoid me by that time, and barely spoke as we walked back to the camp; I didn't bother saying a word either, which I think surprised them. I truly believed they were expecting me to cry, that way they could comfort me and tell me how much they loved and cared for me. They would use that as their opportunity to look for my forgiveness, to prove to themselves that they weren't truly heartless. I didn't give them that chance. I took what came at me with pride, and held my position. Hell would cool over first before I ever begged them to stay. Why should I? They didn't want me; well they didn't _need_ me anyways. Not like I needed them.

I couldn't even pack my bags, or bring any clothes with me due to safety issues. Part of the contract was that I would come with nothing but the clothes on my back, because that way the others would know I wasn't packing heavy equipment. The Soul on the other hand, was able to bring all of her Healer equipment along with a few personal items. I began to wonder when the roles had reversed. At what time during this invasion did the humans go back to being the terrorists and the Souls the welcomed guests? A million other questions raced through my mind, but I barely had enough time to answer any of them; I was too drained right now, way too emotionless. The rest of the squad let me cool off near the pillars, except for Crater and Russ who guarded me from afar. They wouldn't want me to make a quick getaway and ruin their plans. I ignored them, for I knew that I had no plans of running away. I leaned my head against the tough stone and closed my eyes. I could play the whole scene out again; I saw the shamed looks on their faces, the way they shifted this way and that in the brightening sky as they tried to not catch my eyes. They didn't see because they didn't want to see the effect this truly had on me, because they knew that if they had looked into my eyes and saw the sheer raw emotion that boiled within them, that they would feel all the worse. Who knew? They might have even changed their minds, they may have withdrawn from the plan as a result, but they couldn't do that. They didn't want to do that. So why risk it?

I tried to block out all of the good memories that came flashing into my mind, you know, the kind you get when you're about to say goodbye when you don't want to? The type of haunting thoughts that creep into your vision when you know it's over, but you never wanted it to be that way. My eyes shut tighter until I got a headache; I would not let these memories get in my way. I would not let them crush me, at least not in front of them.

The two men hadn't said a word to me until time was up. I heard a distant rustle of someone coming in through the entrance, followed by someone behind me running up to meet them. "Charlotte, they're here okay? We're going to meet them; do you want to come now or…?" It was Crater's soft voice that met me. His tone made a lump rise inside my throat, and although he waited for me to answer I didn't give him one. After a while of silence he finally left and I let my eyes pop open. Had an hour really past? It seemed that way, because I was beginning to get dizzy from the sudden light that my pupils were exposed to. My hand gripped the stone to keep me from falling over, my face turned by itself to meet the supporter.

The pillar was one of many that was filled with out chalk art. Over the years the group had written words and drawn elementary style pictures to express how they felt over the years. Some of them were just lyrics to songs that meant something to them, or inspirational quotes; most of it was just random out-of-boredom writing.

Hey world! What's up? It's day three yay!

Cinder wuz here and always will be! :) Love ya guys!

God I could use a good burger right about now! Yumm buuurgeerr…

I'm surrounded by idiots

I see alien people 

`Aint no party like an Ash party cause an Ash party don't stop! ;D 

Despite myself, I started laughing. It was soft, but comforting to me and before I knew it the tears that I had held back so long had begun to spill out. The terrible thing about tears is that once they start flowing you can't stop them no matter how hard you try. So I gave up trying and just let them flow out freely, now that everyone around me was gone I allowed myself that luxury.

* * *

By the time the group came back I had dried the salt water away, although I'm pretty sure my red eyes gave me away, they seemed to not mention anything about it. It was just best to ignore some things right? The Soul looked like everything I was expecting her to be; she was a few inches taller than me and had an even tan. Her face was kind and her eyes looked friendly and eager to help, it was a nice face but it reeked of naivety. She smiled politely at me. The way a business person would smile when meeting a first time client, however, I didn't return it and just looked past her. As a result of my coldness, she retrieved the hand she had extended as welcome and went back to carrying her heavy equipment. I thought of my Bublé CD.

Ash took some of her things and led her over to where she would be sleeping, which I presumed was my room. As I looked around idly I noticed that Cinder wasn't there, and looking back on it now I remembered that she hadn't been there this morning. I flashed a look towards Magma who I knew would answer my question without saying a word, funny how frenemies have that strange connection. Just as I expected, her look told me everything I needed to know.

She was with Carlos.

Why did it not surprise me?

I dismissed any further thought towards the subject and in time too, because as soon as I turned my attention towards the open entrance, in came a man. Without a doubt I knew this was the man that was going to take me away. Just by observing him I could tell that he was unlike any other person I've ever witnessed. He was much older than Russell; it was obvious because he had a white beard that bushed out of his face, and if it wasn't for the fact that he wasn't nearly as chubby and that his skin was marked by the desert terrain, I could have sworn it was Santa Claus. I crossed my arms; I wasn't feeling very jolly.

As if he could sense my negative vibe, the older man turned to me and grinned from ear to ear. "Well is this her?" he asked to Russ, and straight away I could tell that he was the one whispering with Russ a day back. My eyes narrowed the more his grin spread, and again I ignored the hand that was offered to me. Just like the Soul he gave up after some time, but his face remained humored.

"You're a moody one aren't ya? It's okay I respect that. This probably isn't easy for you."

That was an understatement.

"Well you have you're things all packed up I presume?" I nodded in spite of his joke. "Alrighty then! Let's get a move on, we can't afford to waste daylight. Got any last goodbyes to say before we head out?"

I paused for a moment to ponder over the question, and then turned around to face everyone in the room. It suddenly dawned on me that this was the last time I was ever going to see them.

"No."

"Okay then let's go. Oh, my name's Jebediah by the way, but you can call me Jeb."


	7. Masked Doctor

_**Traded In **_

**Chapter Seven: Masked Doctor**

* * *

I didn't understand Jeb at all.

It was as if he was toying with me the entire time we were riding in the car. One minute he would be jabbering his mouth away, talking about his days like we were old friends, and then just when I was about to boil over, he suddenly stopped talking. Just like that. It was as if he could sense my over powering emotions of rage, and he was having a kick poking at them and then running away, like a rodeo clown does to a bull.

Seeing that I had cooled down while staring outside the window, he began talking again, or better yet testing me.

"I tell you, this is one of the nicest desert temperatures I've seen in a _long_ time. Usually it's ridiculously hot, but today, man it's just prefect."

I couldn't deny him of that, when the sun had taken its position in the sky it beamed beautifully, but without all the usual heat that it emitted. True, anyone else would say that we were crazy because the desert always seemed to be scorching, but that's because they didn't live here. They only lived around this so called wasteland, not in it. So they couldn't tell the difference like we could. My eyes were focused on the passing scenery, which really was just sand and more sand, and sometimes when I got lucky I could see a cactus or two. No matter how many times I tried to drown Jeb's words out of my ears, it just wasn't happening. I failed miserably at ignoring him, most likely due to the fact that he was so close to me. I sighed out of exasperation, the only sound I had made during the entire ride. Jeb took it as more than that, and the way he reacted you would have thought I just sang opera.

"So she does live!" he laughed, and I started to get edgy because his face was completely turned away from the windshield. Good thing there were no cars around, or we might have died from his casual driving. '_Crater usually_ - - no I wouldn't think of him. I wouldn't think of any of them. Not anymore. My face buried itself deeper into the glass window, but Jeb still grinned like he wasn't bothered by it.

"You know Charlotte - -that is your name right? Charlotte?" I didn't respond "I'll take your silence as a yes. You know I'm pretty sure that the group back home will be pretty excited to meet you. They're a lively bunch so I bet you'll get along just fine with them. Well we've got a couple of sour pusses too don't get me wrong, but you learn to overlook them after a while. You seem like the type of girl that likes adventures; I'm guessing you enjoy a raid or two?"

I softly shivered. How much had Russell told this guy anyways?

"Well, bunches of the people there love to raid too, although I'm not sure how exciting it's going to be for you since we have Souls helping us out. Jamie was complaining to me the other day about that, he's wired up due to the easiness of it all. It's not like how you guys did it the old fashion way that is; sometimes I wonder if it's just better that way."

Was that guy serious? That camp could go around town, in and out as if they owned the place and take whatever they want without a hassle! Yet he preferred being possibly killed because he found it too boring the other way? The larger part of my brain had come to the conclusion that this man beside me was insane, meanwhile the smaller portion couldn't help but to agree with him. What was the fun in just strolling in? Where was the thrill of the hunt? The pride in the achievement? I mentally groaned; this guy was messing with my head and I was falling for it.

It took us hours to finally get to our destination, and just in time too because I thought my bladder was about to burst.

Jeb stopped the car and sat there rummaging around for something, I hadn't paid much attention to what it was, but when I saw it my body froze up. It was a blindfold.

_Oh God, this man is crazy isn't he? He's one of those weird serial killers that survived the invasion right? He's going to take me on here in the middle of nowhere and chop up my body and - -and eat me, or something gross like that! They left me in the hands of a predator! _

My face must have looked hysterical, because Jeb laughed when he saw it.

"Now don't worry kid, I'm not going to kidnap `ya. You just have to put this on for security reasons; our cave entrance is kind of a private thing, and we can't risk you running off or remembering it in case you get caught by a Seeker. If it makes you feel better I won't even force you, you'll get to put it on yourself."

He left the piece of cloth by my side of the dashboard, and then folded his arms together to show that he had no intention of making a move for it. After several moments of sitting there with shifty eyes, I sighed and tied the thing on myself. How much worse could it get? I didn't want to know, but I pretended that this was the highest risk.

It was pitch black from my point of view, and anything that I could make out by now was from my hearing abilities. I heard the car go forward until a cool shade passed into the windows, then it came to a complete stop. The car door on Jeb's side opened and closed, I heard as he trotted outside and opened my end.

"Easy does it" he claimed as I felt his hand helping me get down. There was nothing but soft sand below my shoes, and I could feel his grip tighten at the fear of me falling, or at least that's why I hoped he griped so hard.

"Now" he started up again "we still have to walk a good way before we reach the site, and the faster we do it the better. Unlike you guys, we don't have the privilege of living so far away, so we're going to have to run. Ya ready?"

I nodded, trying to plant my feet more securely now.

The run seemed to last longer than the car ride, which a couple of hours ago I would have thought impossible. Maybe it was because I couldn't see, or perhaps it was because the sun was blistering my entire back, but I definitely found myself growing tired.

"How much longer?" I whined, trying to catch my breath; Jeb had let go of me by then, and only touched me occasionally when I was going off track or bumping into him. Before he could answer, I felt something that I had never felt on my feet before, it was a sudden ground that was immensely tough and I could feel cracks forming. I tried to stop myself, to balance it out before I had a chance to fall, but it was too late.

"Oof!" I fell face first onto the harsh surface, throwing my hands and knees in front of me instinctually.

"You okay?" Jeb's voice sounded genuinely worried, but only slightly alarmed. He must have seen this happen about a million times.

"Yeah" I groaned; I couldn't see my hands and knees but I felt the sting of a scrape. A big scrape by the sound of Jeb's "Ooh" as his voice turned to me. I felt his hand tried to help me up, but I was so frustrated by now that I pushed him away and got up myself.

"Are we there yet?" My voice pronounced each word with venom, and I was done trying to hide my annoyance. I didn't want to be here, I wanted to be back in my cave, on my bed, with my supposed friends. Not who-knows-where with some stranger and four painful body parts.

The man next to me didn't seem too thrown off by my attitude. "Yup, we're pretty close so we can walk now. Just watch your step."

"A little too late for that" I grumbled, but paid his warning some mind.

We kept stumbling through the terrain, which now felt smooth and easy to walk on. Jeb grabbed me again and halted me to a stop.

"We're here, let me just take this thing off."

His hands were very careful when untying the blindfold, and I got a knot in my stomach as I began to feel guilty for snapping at him. This man was being kind to me ever since I met him, and all I had done was act like a brat. That wasn't fair to him, unlikely for the both of us however, I wasn't yet willing to admit that aloud. Instead I murmured a "Thanks" and blinked my eyes at the dim surroundings. The cloth had been so dark, that even this shadowy place appeared bright.

"Where are we?"

"Close to the entrance really, right next to the storage room."

"Oh. I thought you weren't supposed to let me know?"

A big, almost mischievous grin appeared on his face. "I know, but I have a feeling you won't really leave. Don't tell anyone I told you though" he winked. I tried to hide my amusement and confusion, but felt a small smile creep up my lips. I hope he didn't see.

"But first, before I give you the official tour, everyone gets one their first time here you know, I'm going to have to send you to Doc."

I had forgotten all about my sore palms and knees, and now decided it would be a good time to look at them. They were pretty bad, as I had suspected. The skin was covered in blood, which dripped down my hands and calves, not to mention that they were filthy with rock and sand, and now the more I looked at them the more they started to hurt. Still, I was determined to keep up my solid façade.

"I'm fine."

The Santa Clause looking man just shook his head. "Now missy, don't tell me that when I can clearly see that you're not okay. You're a mess and uh – uh –uh!" he scolded when I was about to rebuttal "don't tell me otherwise. It's time you get to know the first and most important phrase of this facility. The only one that really matters around here" he took a pause, most likely to emphasize the importance of what was next "My House, my rules."

Somehow, I couldn't find myself arguing with that.

Jeb led me along the corridors of the cave, which along with being extensive they were also immense. We only had once entrance, and it was about half the size of one of these. This place was huge! I began to worry that I was going to get lost; maybe Jeb's previous joke about me not wanting to runaway was because he knew I'd never find my way out? I grimaced at the thought. How could I tell when this man was being serious or when he was joking? I couldn't. He was just the biggest puzzle to me.

I followed Jeb into a room that was busy with people; I knew it was without going in because I saw several people walking in and out of it, all chattering at the same time. There were more than eight, that's for sure! "Heya guys, I'm back!" Jeb greeted inside, his body blocking my view of the interior. A bunch of "Hey!" s and "Jeb!" s and "About time you got here!" s were thrown around simultaneously, and now I was really itching to know what was going on. I summoned the courage to lightly poke Mr. Claus in the back, making his head turn and his body followed. My mouth opened slightly as I caught a look of the room; it was nothing compared to the tunnels that we had just traveled through, oh no it was twice the size of that! There were lanterns placed here and there, but they weren't very much in use. Several cots were lined up beside wastes baskets, and other medical equipment that was stacked atop cabinets. Good cabinets, white ones that actually had handles and working doors! None of that makeshift crap that was falling apart back where I used to live. The place really did seem like a hospital, and some of people inside (I counted ten of them), were all dressed in lab coats and decked out with doctor accessories. I felt like I just walked into a movie scene, and it must have shown on my face because everyone stopped to look at me. With the exception of these two women and an overseer, who were busy at work doing God-knows-what to two corpses.

"Doc, someone's here to see you" Jeb called out, pushing me forward into the bizarre surroundings. The overseer, a tall, thin man with brown hair raised his head from the bodies to look at me. I couldn't see much else of his face seeing as it was covered by a medical mask, but by the crinkles that formed on each of his eyes I could tell he was smiling.

"Oh, hello" his tone sounded pleasant as he walked up to greet me. "What have we here?" his eyes instantly glanced at my cuts, and his head shook ever so slightly at the sight. I felt exposed, like a little two year old girl who had fallen down while playing and was getting a chastisement from her father. "Well that can be fixed easily" he said nonchalantly, the wrinkles in his eyes reappearing once again.

"You sure you're not too uhm…busy?" Jeb pointed over to the bodies, but Doc shook his head in return.

"No I believe Suzan and Kaila have it managed pretty well. I was just looking to make sure everything was going as scheduled."

My imagination tried its best to not run rampage at the bodies in front of me, it tried to not picture that this was some sort of dissection lab for sick minded humans and souls, to get their giddies with - - oh stop it! I swallowed a lump in my throat as Doc, which I assumed wasn't his real name, led me deeper in. "Come on now, just take a seat right here and I'll get you all fixed up." Is that what they're calling murdered nowadays? Yet, instead of leaving me in the chair and coming back with something like a chainsaw, the stranger simply returned with a couple of white bottles in his hand. "Alrighty then" let me just see your palms first please." His hand uncapped the bottle titled 'Clean' and began to spray my stinging hands with it, making them sizzle with foam; my eyes were intently watching by then, and without noticing my forehead touched the doctor's as I was trying to get a closer look. I immediately recoiled at the bump, feeling embarrassed, but his light brown eyes looked more than amused. "Is this your first time using alien medication?"

My curiosity got the best of me, and I felt both my eyebrows fling up in surprise and awe. "This is the stuff Souls use?"

"Yes, it's very effective as you're about to see. Don't worry it doesn't hurt one bit either."

"I'm not worried" I protested truthfully, in fact I was just the opposite, I was amazed. I had never before dreamed that humans could get their hands on such valuable objects, or even know how to use them to begin with! Then again, this cave was chalk full of Souls so it was to be expected. He continued to treat me with two other unknown substances called 'Heal' and 'Seal'.

"Sorry I didn't use No Pain" he murmured somewhat sheepishly, as his hands came down to tug his mask away from his mouth. His lips were contorted into an equally sheepish way that completed his expression perfectly. "It's just that we try to conserve that the most for emergencies."

I nodded, although I didn't quite get what he was saying; my eyes traveled from his docile face to the two women who were still working.

"And that is….?"

"Not a homicide in practice if that's what you're thinking."

"But what about - -"

"Don't worry, Suzan and Kaila have been trained by the best Healers. They're here to help, in no way are they harming anyone. We wouldn't even dare think of doing such a thing."

"I guess –"

"You'll just have to take my word for it? Yeah you kind of will."

I hesitated before answering again, seeing if he already knew what I was about to say, but he just sat there looking at me in a clueless manner.

"And let me guess, just like Jeb over there you seem to be psychic?"

Doc chuckled at this, glancing over at Jeb in an inquisitive way wondering what he had said to me.

"No. We just have a lot of confused humans to answer to, and one gets used to knowing what they're going to ask next. Trust me, it can get very repetitive."

"Ah, good and I just thought you were all completely insane" my eyes rolled.

"Just `cause we're informed doesn't mean we're not insane" Jeb pitched in, grinning at his own joke. "Thanks for fixing her up Doc, I wouldn't want the others thinking that I abuse our rookies."

Doc smiled warmly at him, laying a blue gloved hand on his cheek while his eyes gave off a sarcastic look. "No you just abuse us right?"

"Exactly!"

His smile deepened as we stood from our chairs; his hand came out to greet mine "Oh and my name's..erm…well you can call me Doc, everyone kind of does already. You must be Charlotte I presume? I hope we can meet up again soon."

I didn't ask how he knew that, because by now it was apparent that everyone here seemed to know about me. I glanced from his compassionate face, down to his expecting hand, and for the first time that day I actually accepted it.

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

_**A/N : Sorry it took me so long to bring out this chapter! It's just that I was trying to balance this once with the new fanfic I made. Anyways, I brought up Doc into play! You'll definitely be seeing more of him in the story. [ ; ) ] I also had to make up some details about him, like his hair color and whatnot because they weren't really told in the book. **_


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